Stripped Screw
by thisisitlucy
Summary: College AU. Cinder Linh knew whatever Iko had planned wasn't going to go well. Especially when those plans include a hacker, an ex-gang member, a player, little miss crazy and her unofficial bodyguard, the badass redhead, and Cinder's possible crush...not that she was going to admit to anything.
1. Cress

**CRESS**

"I am so proud of you," Torin was close to tears as he held the shoulders of the 18 year old. "You've grown so much."

Cress was sure she would've burst into tears if not for the loud snort of her 21 year old brother.

"She's hasn't grown since she was 9," Kai said as Cress narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"Can you just let me have a moment?" Cress sighed. "Just one moment, you freaking dork."

Kai shot the girl a cheeky grin as Torin shook his head with displeasure.

"As I was saying," Torin turned away from the older Huáng child. "You are going to have a fantastic time at Lunar University. You already are ahead of your class, finishing almost all of your generals during high school. You are going to do great."

Kai rolled his eyes as his adoptive sister's eyes began to mist over but his heart was softened at the sight. Even if he was a pain in the butt, he still cared for the small girl more than anything.

"R-right."

"And besides," Torin nodded to Kai. "Kai is in the exact same complex."

Cress nodded.

"Yes, and speaking of that," Kai reached around the older man. "We really gotta get going. Otherwise, we won't make it there til _after_ dinner."

"Right," Torin cleared his throat as he wrapped the two Huáng children into a quick hug, surprising both of them. "You better get going then. And, Kai," Torin raised an eyebrow. "Remember your father wants you on the Skype call tonight."

"Right." Kai nodded firmly as he grabbed the young blonde's hand. "8 o'clock. I will be sure to be on."

Torin nodded as Cress threw herself at the old man again.

"I'm going to miss you Torin!" The girl's throat began to tighten as she hugged her childhood mentor. "I promise to visit every other weekend!"

Torin simply laughed as Kai yanked on his sister's collar.

"You won't have a reason to visit if _we don't get going._ "

"Goodbye Crescent Moon, Kaito." Torin gave a short nod to the two as Kai yanked his sister out the front door of the Huáng mansion.

"Let's go, Cress," Kai rolled his eyes. "I gotta get both of us unpacked before that meeting and it's a three hour drive."

Cress shot her brother a sheepish smile as she wiped her eyes.

"Right, I'm sorry Kai."

Kai glanced over at the small girl before breaking out in a wide grin. "It's okay, you can make it up to me by letting me DJ."

Cress's face pinched up as she gagged at the thought.

"You listen to old man music. As if!" Cress's face broke out in a wide grin as she raced to the Kai's sleek black BMW. Most of everything, including Cress's silver Mini Cooper, were waiting at their respective homes. The only things that filled the car were Cress's laptop bag and desktop sets and Kai's own laptop, briefcase, and a box of files she was sure he was expected to read before the meeting tonight.

"Frank Sinatra is a classic!" Kai yelled causing the young girl to laugh.

"I don't know how you haven't managed not to get beat up."

"It's because of my rugged good looks."

Cress laughed again.

* * *

"How about we go to your condo first?" Cress stated as she played with her hair. "How about I help you get unpacked and then maybe I can just stay with you and-"

"Or," Kai sighed as he glanced at the girl. "You can just trust that your roommates are going to love you."

 _As if._

When Cress wasn't fighting Kai for control of the aux cord, she had spent the better portion of the trip researching her new roommates via her tablet.

There was Scarlet Benoit. A 20 year old girl who was born in Rieux, France, a small town. There she worked on the Benoit farm with her grandmother until she was 18. Then, she flew out of the country to attend Lunar University in New York City. She was double majoring in Agricultural Studies and Culinary Arts with a minor in business and currently spoke both French and English fluently. If that wasn't intimidating enough, the girl was had curves that Cress would kill for and hair that was the color of passion.

If it was just her, Cress was sure she could handle the pressure of being her roommate. But then there was Iko.

Iko Anzhuo, 19, was a force of her own. It was easy to find out nearly everything Cress could ever wish to know. After typing the first two letters of her name, her full name popped up on the browser. The girl had a digital footprint the size of a dinosaur. Iko basically had her own private army-the number of followers in the thousands on both Twitter and Tumblr not to mention an even larger and still growing fanbase on Youtube. She was sassy, spunky, and often defined as a "firework" by her followers. The girl's Instagram was full of Vogue-worthy snapshots of her posing in her latest vintage fix or of her latest makeup creations. Not to mention the girl dominated the stage, as the Lunar Chronicle stated. As a freshman the girl had already manage to sweep up the spotlight. Iko was getting a BS in Theatre as well as a minor in Fashion Merchandising. It was clear to tell that living with Iko would never be dull.

That was two of her three roommates. Both were intense and talented and passionate about what they were doing.

 _Not to mention, they are both goddesses,_ Cress thought with a sigh.

Last, but not least, there was Cinder Linh.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It irritated Cress to no end, seeing as both her other roommates came up within seconds. But it was as if Cinder had never touched social media. Which is very unlikely, considering today's day and age.

There were two pictures of Cinder, both on Iko's instagram, and both were close ups of Iko's face pressed tightly to the face of an Asian girl with golden eyes, pink lips, and wild brown hair. The girl's face possessed no makeup and had several streaks of dirt or grease streaked across. Which was a sharp contrast to the dazzling makeup Iko had on on a regular basis. After that, Cress was forced to hack into the school files to see anything else. And those were pretty bland as well. She was going into Mechanical Engineering, which considering the grease or dirt as well as her test scores, made complete sense. The girl was also the adoptive daughter of Andri and Garan Linh. And was apparently fluent in Chinese as well. But, other than that, there was absolutely nothing on her third roommate.

Which made Cress the most anxious. At least on the other two she could prepare herself by familiarizing herself with the latest gossip and makeup trends as well as the best was to bake creme brulee. But with Cinder she had no clue. Did she discuss physics with her or maybe she was like Iko and liked fashion and celebrity gossip? Or maybe she liked to cook like Scarlet? Or was she into motorcycles and cars or maybe-

"Cress," Kai's voice shook her out of her rambles as his hand reached over and found hers. "You are going to do great. Everyone is going to love you."

"How do you know that?" Cress nearly cried. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Everyone loves you, Cress."

"Not everyone." The thought brought more panic and the girl winced at the thought of her old high school tormentors. Kai winced as well and guilt filled his eyes.

It wasn't Kai's fault, Cress would never blame him for the two years of torment she faced when her older brother left. He was three years her senior. He was a senior when she was a freshman. And, everyone loved Kai...Cress was a different story. She had skipped a grade when she was younger and well, when you are as small and shy as she was, it was hard to make friends. Not to mention that girls didn't like the fact her name or the fact she was the younger sister to Kaito.

"Cress, it will be different." Kai squeezed her hand as he pulled into the complex. A sign flashed "Commonwealth Housing" as they drove by.

"How do you know?" Cress repeated.

"I'm stuck in school another 4 years, I will be here the entire time you are. Plus," Kai parked the car. "You are Cress Moon Darnel Huáng, you are a superstar."

 _Superstar. I am a superstar, a model awaiting to walk across the runaway. I can do this._

Cress nodded, squeezing her brother's hand before jumping out of the car. "You're right!"

"Of course I'm right!" Kai said he got out ."I'm your older brother. And older brothers are-"

"Always right," Cress rolled her eyes, heading towards the main building to check in. "You dork."

* * *

After the quick check-in where both learned that all their roommates had arrived already, Cress was force to deal with her brother's ridiculous advice on the route back to the car to retrieve her stuff.

"And you should always alert your roommates if you have a boy over. Not that you will actually have to do that, because you won't be dating anyone ever." Kai rambled as he popped the trunk.

Cress rolled her eyes as she reached for her laptop bag. "You are so full of it."

"So full of wisdom," Kai said as he grabbed her desktop computer in one hand and hefted the box that contained the two screens with the others. Cress scoffed and waited till both were snug under Kai's arms before closing the trunk and heading towards condo number 4.

"Are you sure we can't-"

"Positive." Kai said as he basically skipped up the concrete steps to the door.

"Careful!" Cress snapped as her brother nearly lost the box of monitors. "Those are top of the line!"

"Calm down, sis," Kai rolled his eyes. "It's all going to be okay. Remember, you're a superstar."

"I'm a superstar," Cress whispered as she jammed the key into the lock. "I'm a superstar about to meet my adoring fans."

"That's the spirit!" Kai cheered as Cress pushed open the door...

And nearly dropped her laptop bag.

* * *

 **...**

 **Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! Please review if you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, until next time.**

 **-thisislucy**


	2. Cinder

**CINDER**

Cinder Linh didn't know how she wound up in the situation. One minute, her and Iko were moving into their condo and everything looked like it was going to be normal.

They had the biggest room on the bottom level, since the two of them were sharing. And, yeah, Cinder was terrified of sharing with Iko. But it turned out they had a massive walk-in closet for the two to share and their own private bathroom as well a large in-the-wall bookcase. Each had their own dressers and desks. Iko took most of the closet, which didn't bother Cinder seeing as the only things hanging in there were two dresses that Iko had bought for her. The bookcase was mostly filled with Cinder's tools and loose parts. By the time they were finished the room looked like a weird combination of Vogue meets grease.

"I'm so excited!" Iko giggled as she picked up her mobile camera.

"Ugh, Iko do you really gotta film?"

Iko huffed, popping her hip to the side. "Do you see how I look today?" She was decked out in a vintage blue flapper dress that framed her hips. Her hair cocoa braids were pulled up in a half bun with white feathers threaded through. "This is a video-worthy outfit. Plus the only vlog footage I have is that four hour car ride of us singing."

"Oh no!" Cinder ran her fingers through her hair. "You filmed that?"

"Oh course I filmed that!" Iko rolled her eyes. "That was prime life moments of Cinder and Iko. Ciko!"

"Excuse me?"

"Ciko," Iko repeated the name like it meant something. "You know? Our best friend name?"

"You're fans made a best friend name?"

"Umm, yeah," Iko smiled as grabbed her camera. "We are incredibly adorable."

"Super cute." Cinder sighed as they heard the front door being thrown open.

"Ooh!" Iko flipped the camera on and pointed it towards her face. "Our new roommate is here!" Iko shrieked with excitement as she threw open their bedroom door.

"Hello new room…" Iko's voice trailed off as she saw the girl.

Bright red hair, plump lips, and a curvy body. The girl's green eyes were narrowed as kicked her combat boot-clad feet kicked the front door. Foreign words tumbled out of her mouth as she glared at the door. Her head pivoted towards Iko and Cinder her eyes widened slightly with surprise.

"Hello," a French accent was slightly present as she kicked the door closed. There was an awkward pause as she rolled her eyes. "Are you going to keep staring or…?"

"YOU ARE SO PRETTY!" Iko shrieked with delight as she ran over to the girl, her mouth going a minute a mile. "I'm Iko Anzhuo. I'm a YouTuber. Are you okay if I use this in my videos? And being in my videos? My fans would absolutely adore you. And you seem so cute! And look at this body! You'd be perfect for some Marilyn Monroe-centered fashion. I mean, damn, that body is to die for! And look at that complexion. What do you use? Are you even wearing makeup or are you a makeup virgin like-"

"Whoa!" The redhead looked daze as she held up her hands to Iko. "Slow down, I just had a long flight from France. And you...whoa."

Iko deflated slightly as she bit her lip bashfully.

"Sorry about Iko," Cinder slipped in, sliding a hand towards the girl. "This is Iko and I'm Cinder your...your housemates?"

"Scarlet Benoit," the girl smiled as she shook their hands. "I'm just going to umm...unpack?"

"Do you need any help?" Iko jumped at the chance, her energy bounding right back. "We could totally help!"

"Actually, that'd be great," Scarlet smiled. "The rest of my stuff is out on the porch...and I don't mind being filmed...just let me see the video before you post anything with me in it?"

"Of course!" Iko nodded like a bobble head. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Cinder rolled her eyes at Iko's antics. "Will be right up with the rest of those bags, Scarlet."

Scarlet smiled.

 **))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))**

Cinder didn't have an eye for design like Iko did nor did Scarlet, as she had come to realize. But the three of them had made the room cozy.

Scarlet was in the third bedroom, it was originally meant to be a double room but the other single had already been taken by someone Iko or Cinder had seen and Scarlet hadn't minded the extra space. Plus, there was only going to be four of them in the house anyway.

They had pushed the two twins together to form a bigger bed for the redhead and threw the extra dresser into the hallway. Scarlet had brought a lot of silk fabrics and scarves that her grandmother had given her. Scarlet had said that her "Grandmere" as Scarlet called her, had wanted her to have a piece of their home at college. And Scarlet hadn't been able to say no. Cinder (yes, she even surprised herself) had the brilliant idea of pinning the silks to the ceiling to create of sort of mock tent. That, combined with the Christmas lights Scarlet had brought, gave the room a warm feel. The rest was easy.

"This is so freaking cute!" Iko cheered as she popped a hip and took her camera around the room. "Scarlet's got this whole bohemian vibe. Ugh, I wish I could pull of bohemian," Iko bottom lip pulled as she huffed.

"Is she always like this?" Scarlet laughed as she gestured to the mocha girl.

"Yeah," Cinder laughed as Iko's bottom lip was pulled out even more.

"Cinder," Iko whined as her lips began to pull into a small smile. "I can't believe you're both gaining up on me."

Before Cinder could respond, there was a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" Scarlet said as Cinder walked down the stairs, wondering the same thing. She pulled at her gloves slightly before yanking the door open. There, on the other side, was a bright blonde with a smirk decorating his face and a dark-haired male with crisscrossing scars who looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"Hello Sweetheart," Carswell Thorne cracked a smile as Cinder slammed the door.

What is Thorne doing here?

"Who was that?" Scarlet was standing in the stairwell.

"WAS THAT THORNE?" Iko's voice echoed down the stairs the the YouTuber came pounding down to the door.

"YES IT WAS!" Thorne yelled on the other side.

Iko came blazing down the door, shoving Cinder out of the way and threw open the door.

"Hey pretty lady," Thorne flashed a bright smile to Iko as she wrapped a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Who let you into college Carswell," the sassy was present as she kept up the flirty smile as she pointed the camera at him.

"Do you hear her, Cinder?" Thorne whined as he glanced at Cinder, wide eyes. "She's hurting your best friend."

"I'm her best friend," Iko flicked her hair out of his face.

"Cinder." Thorne whined as the other boy looked at the scene with wide eyes.

"She isn't wrong, Thorne. Iko's been there for everything."

"So have I!"

"You got here involved in everything," Iko snapped.

Cinder saw Scarlet and the other boy share a look.

"Thorne, are you going to introduce your friend?" Cinder sighed, collapsing on the couch.

"Only if you let us in Sweetheart." Thorne smirked.

"Fine," Cinder threw her arms in the air. "It's not like you're going to be leaving anytime soon."

Thorne smirked as the two boys stepped into the place.

"This is Wolf, he's one of my housemates."

"Hello," Wolf looked down on the ground, shying away from the attention and eyeing the camera with apprehension.

"This is Cinder Linh, Iko Anzhuo, and some redhead."

"Scarlet Benoit," Scarlet filled in, shooting Thorne a glare.

"Yeah, that's what I...wait," Thorne cocked his head to the side. "Your name is Scarlet like your…"

"Yes," Scarlet snapped. "Just like my hair. And yes, it is natural."

Thorne held his hands up. "Just wanted some clarification."

And that's when it started to go downhill.

Iko began working on her vlog some more stating that the footage she had would only cover six minutes of her usual nineteen minute vlogs. Wolf had followed Scarlet to the kitchen, the woman claimed she was going to cook dinner. And, after Thorne's whining, said that she would cook for the boy as well.

Thorne had taken up to bugging Cinder on the couch, trying to pester the girl at the same time he was trying to get the girl to blush.

Cinder had given up about thirty minutes in and ran upstairs to grab her tools and began cleaning off the layers of grease and grime she had been meaning to do for weeks.

That short span was when things got chaotic.

Somehow Wolf had managed to light a towel and the pan on fire, causing Scarlet to screech and scream, what Cinder assumed were profanities, at him in French. Thorne had taken to placing himself in Iko's frame as the girl tried to film the fire as well as tell Thorne to "get the hell out of her shot."

Cinder stood in the middle of the living room, her overstuffed and stained toolchest grasped in her hand as she wondered how the hell she got in this mess.

And that's when the door opened.

"Spirit!" the male voice echoed through the door as a short blonde and a tall Asian were revealed, both had arms full of items. The blonde was cute and her hair stretched to the middle of her thighs. The boy...the boy looked familiar. Like Cinder had seen her somewhere.

The blonde nearly dropped the bag she was carrying as her mouth stood agape. The boy had the same matching look.

"YOU FOOL!" Scarlet screeched as she dumped an entire box of baking soda on her pan. "YOU RUINED MY SOLE MEUNIERE YOU STUPID IDIOT! HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE CATCH THIS ON FIRE! I LEFT YOU ALONE FOR TWO SECONDS."

Cinder had to give Scarlet credit for getting both fires out while insulting and making a boy who seemed like he belonged in a gang cower.

And Scarlet wasn't that tall.

"OHMIGOSH!" Iko screeched. "KAI HUANG?!"

Kai Huang?

Eyes swiveled to the two strangers and the boy ducked down and yanked his down.

"OHMY!" Iko began to fan herself as her body began to sway. "Oh my oh my."

And that's when Iko fainted.

Cinder turned to the strangers and gave an awkward wave.

"Welcome?"

* * *

 **Sorry it has taken me so long to update! I hope you like it! I tried to go back and give you a better look at Cinder and Iko.**


	3. Kai

**I'm sorry this took so long. But I hope you guys like it! Also, if anyone knows a Beta that would be interesting, please let me know. Thanks!**

* * *

 **KAI**

Kai Huang wrapped one arm around Cress as his muscles tensed. The apartment smelt burnt and the air was thick with smoke and voices and heat. He could feel Cress shaking beside him.

"Welcome." The girl who stood in the middle possessed long sleeves and tight black gloves. Her dark hair was in a messy bun and on her forehead was a smear of grease. She was awkward, Kai could tell. But it was endearing, the way her lip turned up in an uncertain smile as she tried to welcome them to…

To whatever this mess was.

"Hi…?" Cress's voice was shaking slightly as she took another step into the apartment. "I'm Cress Huang…?"

"Hi," the girl in the middle took a step forward. "I'm Cinder Linh and this," Cinder looked behind her as her eyes spotted the still fainted cocoa-skin girl and the upset redhead. "Well, this is a mess."

Kai cracked a smile as he stepped into the place and shut the door behind him.

"How about you two go get unpacked," the brunette boy gave a quick smile and threw a wink at Cress. "And we can finish introductions after we clean up?"

Cress didn't bother to nod as she grabbed Kai's wrist and yanked him upstairs. Kai's blood began to boil at the blatant flirting whoever just did with his sister.

Cress slammed the door shut, pressing her back into the wood as Kai looked at the box-filled room. Kai sighed in defeat. This was going to take them a while.

-XXXXX-

Kai could hear talking come from below as he finished nailing up the last of Cress's wall art. They were mostly varying styles of Kai's own photography from his business travels. After the death of Kai's mother dying from Letumosis, a rare and deadly strand, Kai's father, Rikan, had gone to an extreme. Kai, who was 13 at the time, was allowed to travel with Rikan as well as a team of the best doctors in the world. Cress, who was at the tender age of 10, was forced to a lockdown of sorts. She wasn't allowed to go on travels or leave the states. Rikan couldn't handle the loss wife and wouldn't allow his beloved daughter to fall to the same fate.

No matter what Kai said, Cress was stuck in the state while he did the thing that Cress longed to do-see the world. Though Kai couldn't fix it, he tried to take as many pictures to try to bring a little bit of the world back to her.

And sweet Cress had gotten the best ones up and made him sign them.

"Cress," Kia held up his latest one from his trip to China. It was a canvas print and it depicted a bamboo photo with several pandas sprinkled throughout. Fog hung to the floor and the sky was a thick gray. He hadn't even sent it to her yet, he had barely finished editing it earlier yesterday. "When did you even…"

"I may have hacked your computer yesterday," Cress spoke, a slight tinge of guilt in her voice. Her body was tucked under her desk as she was setting up the massive mountain that is her desk. "And...I may have printed it out."

"Cress what if I wasn't finished?" Kai tried to sound annoyed. He really did. But a smile fell on his lips.

"You always put the finished ones in the file labeled "Cressy" which, by the way, I detest the name." Cress poked her head out from under the table. "Like, how many times do I have to tell you?"

Kai smiled. "How many times do I have to tell you that you shouldn't hack into my computer."

"Touche," Cress smiled as she crawled out from under the desk. "Well, I'm done...and starving."

"Oh, you want to go get burgers they have this-"

"No," Cress put her hand on the doorknob. "I want to meet and eat with my roommates and you."

"But-"

"No, Kai, I promise. They are great people."

"But that mess in the kitchen Cress."

"Yes, but I promise," Cress laughed. "That's only the beginning."

"WHAT?" Kai screeched as Cress took down the stairs. Laughter and chatter could be heard as Kai took after his sister…

...And nearly plowed into her at the bottom of the stairs. She stood there, frozen as she watched the scene from the outside. The longing in her eyes made Kai's heart soften.

"Hey, I hope the day's done with that camera," the taller man said, his body hunched over a pizza box.

"I am never done," the cocoa skin girl huffed as she shoved the camera in his face. "Is the big, scary man afraid of a wittle camera?"

"No filming at dinner," the redhead snapped, her fingers curled around her slice of pizza.

"Someone's a little annoyed," the brunette spoke and Kai glowered. He didn't like him very much.

"Yeah, and I would back off unless you want to end up like dinner-charred and in the trash can."

The table erupted in laughs as the brunette pouted.

"Oh, hey!" Cinder, from earlier, waved a hand from her perch on the counter at the two siblings. "You guys are done?"

"Yeah," Cress pressed her back into her brother. "I suppose."

"Well, come on over," the redhead girl waved a hand over the box. "Grab a slice before Tiger over here eats it all."

"It's Wolf."

"Whatever."

Kai laughed as he pushed his sister forward. Kai noticed the girl with a camera point it towards him.

"I'm sorry, do you mind not filming me?" Kai asked as he reached for a slice of pizza.

"Oh. Right!" Iko blushed a brilliant shade of red as she set the camera on the counter. "Sorry, I…"

"What's the big deal?" the boy named Wolf asked, eyes wide. "Who are you anyway?"

"Um," Kai rubbed the back of his neck, unable to form an answer. How do you casually say that you're the heir of a multi-billion dollar company?

But the camera girl cut in. "This is the Kai Huang. Heir to Huang Enterprises? Named the Hottest Bachelor this last year? HIs face is all over the internet all the time!"

Wolf gave the girl a dull look and Kai would have burst out laughing if the situation called for it.

"I don't get it, Iko."

"Ughh," Iko groaned. "It's like you lived under a rock."

"And you are?" the redhead looked at Cress.

"I'm Cress," Kai's sister rocked on her heels, pulling at her hair.

Iko cocked her hair. "I knew there was a younger Huang but I thought you were younger."

Cress pulled her long locks in front of her face, her eyes darting to the floor.

"Our father tries to keep Cress out of the press," Kai supplied. "It's so young men don't try to go after her because she's coming the the age that she can be "betrothed" and such." Kai made a face at the idea of Cress being engaged. He felt the tiny blonde shudder at the thought.

"Is that a thing?" the redhead asked cocking her head.

"Yeah," Kai nodded. "People often want to marry because of greed or status upgrades...umm…" His voice trailed off as he waited for a name.

"Scarlet," the girl provided. "And that's awful."

Cress nodded. "Yeah, it's...odd." Cress awkwardly laughed. "Anyway, we were hoping that we could be just Cress and Kai. Siblings. Normal. Not…"

"Not afraid of the press banging down our door." Kai smiled as he nodded to the camera.

"Of course!" Cinder cut in. "And we won't treat you any different because you guys have fiscally different backgrounds."

Kai had heard that a lot, but coming from Cinder's pink lips-he believed it.

"Yeah, we might just expect you to pay for pizza every week." The brunette supplied.

"Thorne!" Cinder smacked the man on the shoulder.

"Thorne as in Carswell Thorne?" Cress piped up, surprising everyone in the room.

"Yeah...how do you?"

"I may have sort of found who is rooming with Kai." Cress tugged at her hair.

"You what?" Iko's mouth was open as Kai and Thorne stared at each other, each with a different expression.

"I'm living with him?!" Kai snapped as Thorne responded with "I'm living with him!"

"And this boy named Jacin Clay and Ze'ev Kesley?"

"Me," Wolf raised a hand as Thorne did a jig around the table.

"Thorne!" Cinder snapped. "Knock it off."

All the while the YouTuber leaned across the table. "I promise you," Iko sighed. "He is that annoying. But, he's kind of chill once you get to know him."

Kai wanted to bang his head against the wall. How in the world did he…

"So, Carswell-" Cress started.

"You can call me Captain, Sweetheart," Thorne smiled as Kai's blood began to boil.

Is he really flirting with her in front of me?!

"Anyway," Cinder ran a hand through her hair and tapped Iko. "How about we play a game to...lighten the mood?" It was clear the Mechanic was trying to get Iko to think of something.

"Ooh! What about _Cards Against Humanity_?"

"Yes!" Thorne and Scarlet yelled.

"Sure, sounds fun?" Wolf shrugged, as he reached for another piece of pizza.

"What's that?" Eyes turned on the heir of Huang Enterprises.

"You don't know what _Cards Against Humanity_ is?" Iko popped a hip, eyes wide. "How do you not know what it is? I mean it-"

"I didn't have a lot of time for card games," Kai shrugged.

"Well," Cinder cut in before Iko could bounce in with a comment about how Kai's life was "suffering". "We'll teach you."

-XXXXX-

And they did. The group ended up playing for two hours, sitting around in the living room. Cards flying, jokes leaving lips, and the tension leaving shoulders. Kai noticed that Cress's personality was beginning to slip through as the night progressed.

It was nice. Kai was happy to see his baby sister enjoying herself for once instead of feeling trapped and caged.

"Ha!" Scarlet stuck her tongue out at Thorne as she won yet another round. "I win again!"

"I swear, you all are cheating!" Thorne mourned. "I haven't won a single round."

"You can't really cheat at this," Cress pointed out.

"Plus, it's easy to tell which ones are yours," Wolf rolled his eyes. "Anything that seems too outlandish is obviously yours."

"My cards are genius, thank you very much." Thorne crossed his arms and pulled out his bottom lip in some sort of childish pout.

"Oh suck it up," Iko piped. "You're being such a baby."

"Oh come-"

There was a shrill ringing that filled the room and Kai's heart stopped.

"Oh stars," Cress wiped her hands on her jeans as she placed a hand on her mouth. "The meeting."

"The what?" Iko questioned as Kai yanked out his cell phone to see the bright FaceTime alert. Kai took a deep breath and looked around at the group of misfits he had surrounded himself with.

"Please. No weird comments or things setting on fire?"

"Promise." Cinder answered as everyone nodded.

Kai turned and swiped right.

"Kai?" Rikan's voice filled the room as Kai forced a smile on his face. His hair was messy and his hoodie could clearly be seen. Oh Stars, he was so dead. "Where are you? Why didn't you call in?"

A million answers ran through Kai's head.

 _I was hanging out like a normal teenager? I was bitten by a shark? I was playing a card game I didn't know existed till two hours ago? I haven't even read that file I was supposed to read? I-_

"He was helping me, Daddy," Cress pulled the phone so he could see her face.

"Oh hello, my Crescent Moon," Rikan smiled fondly as Thorne mouthed the word "Crescent?" to Iko, who shrugged.

"Yeah," Kai yanked the phone back as he stood up. "So the meeting?"

"Ah yes," Rikan shook his head. "The meeting."

Kai walked up the stairs to Cress's bedroom, each step feeling more weighted than the last.


End file.
